The Army bought ad time on scoreboards at Madison schools. Now parents and students want a timeout. At Monday night's school board meeting a group of people asked the board to remove the ads.

Students and parents say the army ads that appear on gym and stadium scoreboards at four Madison high schools look like recruiting material. About fifty protesters rallied outside the Doyle Administration building before Monday night's meeting, then went inside to urge the board to take the ads down. The ads read "Are you Army Strong?" and have a phone number to call for information. The district has separate policies outlining rules for both military recruitment and advertising. MMSD Board President Arlene Silveira says the ads met those conditions but some are not so sure.

Former Madison East Guidance Couselor Dave Hoppe says he is shocked to hear that the army ads are a part of district revenue and says students should not be directly targeted by the military in their daily classes.

"All materials should be in the guidance counselor's office and how they can figure out that gyms and football fields are the guidance office is absolutely beyond me," says Hoppe.

Hoppe also cites a rule laid out in the district's military recruitment policy that designates all military information be posted in school guidance offices.

"We certainly don't want to have policies that conflict with each other," says Silveira. "Our interpretation at this point in time is that this would not truly qualify as recruiting materials."

A group of students is asking the district to make three changes in its recruiting policy in addition to removing the ads. Instead of having high school students opt-out, have them opt-in when asked if they wish to be contacted by military recruiters. Students also want recruiters removed from lunchrooms. They also want to close what they call loopholes in the three-visits-per-year rule.

The topic was not on the board's agenda. So while members heard testimony from about 45 people, they cannot make any decisions unless they take it up at a future meeting.